Feral
by ThoughtfulPanda
Summary: What's Jim to do when he is kidnapped by a member of an unknown species that insists on looking at the T'hy'la bond in his mind? Though he doesn't have one, does he? Now Jim has to escape from an obsessive alien, while also dealing with a feral Spock who doesn't understand the rules of personal space. What could go wrong?


**I don't own Star Trek**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

* * *

Jim laid still against a hard, unforgiving surface. He forced himself to keep his eyes shut as he mentally surveyed his surroundings. He had no communicator and he wasn't alone, somebody else was here with him in this unknown place. Their shallow breaths were loud, echoing around him, bouncing from the stone-cold walls. Jim's heart thudded loudly in his ears, the deafening sound caused his stomach to churn uneasily. He couldn't stop his mind from irrationally wondering if the noise of his frantic heartbeat was audible in the eerily quiet room.

The sound of steady footsteps accompanied the laboured breathing, as it gradually grew louder and harsher. Jim's muscles were tensed, his teeth were clenched and his ears strained for any other aggressive movements. Sheer willpower was the only thing that prevented Jim from leaping into a defensive crouch and preparing to tackle the oncoming threat. So Jim stayed silent, kept his breathing deep and his eyes closed. He was the perfect image of vulnerability. His plan was to lure them in.

The footsteps hastened, now only moments away. His plan was, of course, successful. His kidnapper was drawn in like bees to a newly blossomed flower.

Jim remained frozen as the threat stopped before him and crouched down to lean over his still body. He could feel its breath as it drifted lightly over his cheeks. The scent was utterly revolting, the off-putting smell of charred human flesh and smoke. This creature had the potential to be extremely dangerous. If its breath was any indication, this thing was a carnivore; Jim hoped that it wasn't hungr y, but he had no plans to remain here and find out.

A smooth, slightly wet claw caressed his cheek. The seemingly loving action was lost when the sharp fingertip pierced the soft flesh of Jim's cheek. A bitter sting accompanied the action, as thick bubbles of blood rose from the skin, and slowly ran down his jawbone.

The creature then moved its clawed hand away and began to make a loud, slurping noise. Disgusted, Jim acknowledged the fact that this thing was licking away his blood; and enjoying it, if the low moan was any indication.

Knowing that this could be his only chance, Jim struck while it was distracted. He opened his eyes as he launched himself at the creature. Jim viciously slammed its head against the stone-hard floor, as he pinned its hips to the ground. Jim watched with a grim sense of satisfaction, as a dark

purple pool of blood accumulated and spread steadily on the grey concrete.

Jim struck again and again, his fists slamming into the creature's face. A satisfying crack sounded as he shattered its cheekbone. Jim knew that he would only be able to get away once the creature was rendered unconscious. To his dismay, the creature made no noise that gave any indication of pain or terror. Instead, it just laid back staring up at him blankly. Jim paused, his breath was heavy and his fists were raw and bloody. He wasn't even affecting it. As if sensing Jim's thoughts, the creature just raised an eyebrow, clearly not impressed.

With a light sigh of dismay, the creature finally reacted. It roughly grabbed onto Jim's arms and lifted him up. Jim's eyes widened as he thrashed violently to get away, but its grip was like steel. The creature showed no signs of strain as it walked over to the corner of the room, it then harshly dropped him onto the ground.

With a growing sense of horror, Jim realised that he would be unable to physically overpower this creature. This thing had just single-handedly ignored Jim's attempts at damage and bared his weight without strain. He had never seen a creature like this before, but its strength resembled that of a Vulcan's.

Spock. Jim felt a sudden pang of pain in his chest as he thought of his green-blooded friend. He was unsure where Spock was, or even if he was still alive. Spock was with him when they beamed down onto the planet's surface, but after that moment everything was a blur of harsh noise and whirling colours…Jim blinked firmly to shake the pessimistic thoughts from his brain. There was no point in dwelling on the possibilities, when he had no evidence that Spock was harmed in any way.

This creature may have had the strength of a Vulcan, but that was where the resemblance ended. It was tall and nimble, its arms and legs were thin and scaly. Its skin was a pale, sickly yellow which was such a contrast to the vibrant purple wounds that were caused by Jim's assault. These injuries littered its gaunt face and already showed signs of blue bruising; though the creature showed no feelings of pain, only a sadistic amusement. Its eyes glowed like dark embers as they slowly trailed down Jim's body. Usually, Jim had no problem with being at the end of intense lustful scrutiny, but this just made his blood run cold. He was greatly disturbed by the wide grin that the creature gave him, before it licked its lips.

Swallowing thickly, Jim pushed down the sense of fear before it clouded his judgement. He would be unable to use force to remove himself from this unfortunate situation, that much was now obvious. Instead, Jim would have to try to extract information from this creature, which would hopefully show its weaknesses.

"Kidnapping a Starfleet Captain is a federal offence," Jim mentioned nonchalantly, as he casually leaned back against the stone wall. "Though I think that you're already aware of that."

The creature raised an eyebrow, "I hardly think that you are in the position to make such threats James Kirk, especially when you are at such a disadvantage." Jim bit his lip to hide his relief. Thank God, this creature spoke Standard.

"A disadvantage?" Jim asked questioningly, he hoped that its confidence would allow him to gather the information that was required.

The creature grinned, before walking towards him. It crouched down and once again leaned in closely and whispered into his ear. "I'll explain it to you, slowly, so that you can understand; but first," The creature paused, its hand flashed down to grasp both of Jim's hands. Unable to physically pull away, Jim watched as his captor clasped heavy black chains around his wrists. "After all, we wouldn't want you to try and run. Not when we're only getting started."

Now restrained, Jim surveyed his surroundings once again, knowing that he needed to familiarise himself with the place where he was being kept captive. The floor consisted of slabs of unevenly paved concrete, its colour worn away with time. This means that tunnelling through the floor was out of the question. There were no windows that he could possibly escape from, though that much was expected. Jim frowned as he observed his restrained hands. The metal was held tight to his skin, there was no possibility of freeing himself.

The creature now stood before him, a twist of a mocking smile graced its lips. "Oh, where are my manners? I am Ki'en Vir, member of the Nashgi race." Jim grimaced, this species was unknown to him. "I have taken you, along with one of your crew members, to run some tests. I hope that you don't mind…"

Jim's eyes narrowed in a furious glare. It was one thing to take him captive, but it was completely unacceptable to bring a member of his crew into this. "Who is it? I order you as Captain of the USS Enterprise to release them at once." His voice showed that this was not a suggestion, only a demand that must be obeyed.

Though, Ki'en Vir was only amused. His head was thrown back as he barked out a laugh. "Silly, naive Terran. Why would I ever do that?" The question was obviously rhetorical, as Ki'en strode towards the wall opposite Jim.

The dungeon was pitch black, as there was no light source in the room. The darkness was like a thick blanket which banished all light. This meant that Jim had to force his eyes to focus in order to watch Ki'en. The creature reached out and grabbed a body, the sound of chains being dragged echoed throughout the room. Ki'en stopped moving the other captive when the chains gave a groan as they were held taut.

Jim pushed down the dread that rose in his stomach as he looked at the member of his crew. Their chest rose with every breath that they took, which meant were alive, at least. He was unable to distinguish any of their features, as a dark shadow was cast over their face. Jim's eyes tightened as he swore to himself that he wouldn't fail this person again, they were under his protection and he would make sure they got out of this safely.

Ki'en was watching him intensely, obviously displeased that Jim showed no immediate signs of recognition. The creature looked determined as he pulled harshly on the captive's hair, exposing their neck. Jim opened his mouth to protest against the violence done to his crew member, when his breath caught in his chest. Jim's eyes were locked on green, pointy Vulcan ears…."Spock?" Jim whispered, his voice was a wretched gasp of pain.

Spock was unconscious, but didn't appear to be greatly injured. The only sign of violence was a thin cut above one of his slanted eyebrows. Jim noted that there shouldn't be any chance of infection, since the green blood was now dry and clotted. His cheeks were unusually pale; a white ivory that contrasted to his normal flushed green. Jim forced himself to choke down the worry for his friend, he would be fine. Jim wouldn't let Ki'en cause his First Office anymore pain, no matter what it took.

"Yes, I'm glad that you understand what is happening now…" Ki'en's voice trailed off, as he ran a claw down Spock's jaw. The action looked harmless, but the threat was loud and clear. Ki'en spoke again. "Cooperate with all of the experiments, and your friend here remains unharmed."

Jim gave a resigned nod of acceptance. It was one thing to risk his own life to escape, but he refused to do the same with Spock. He meant too much to Jim, he was a good friend, and nothing more. Despite how Jim wished it were otherwise.

Jim cleared his throat lightly. "What experiments are we talking about here? How much vodka I can drink? As I've got to tell you, I'm more of a whiskey man, myself," he grinned, as he hid his dread.

Ki'en was unmoved by Jim's attempts at charm, which was probably a good thing. "No, nothing of that sort." Ki'en's voice was full of disapproval as he eyed the physically inferior captive.

Jim merely raised an eyebrow, indicating that Ki'en should continue. He needed to know what tests would be run on him, as it hinted towards possibilities of escape. Well, that is if he survived long enough to escape…

Ki'en continued. "These tests won't be run on you specifically, but instead on the T'hy'la bond in your mind," he stated cryptically, pronouncing the word "T'hy'la" with unrestrained glee.

Jim frowned. A T'hy'la bond? No, Ki'en must be incorrect as he didn't possess such a bond, no matter how much he wished that he had one with Spock. It was something treasured, a bond between a Vulcan and their true soul mate. It was classified information that only Vulcans' possessed; and their mates of course. Jim was only aware of this from his mind-meld with the elder Spock. He saw the shattered bond fragment that led to his Jim Kirk. It left him yearning for that cherished connection between himself and his Spock, but he knew that it wasn't possible.

"No, you must have made a mistake," Jim began, his voice steady despite how his heart raced. "I have no T'hy'la bond, or any similar bond, with a Vulcan."

Ki'en only tutted, and slowly shook his head. He gazed at Jim like a parent would at a disobedient child. "There is no use lying, James Kirk. Ny'ame has already sensed your telepathic bond to this Vulcan," he said, as he gestured towards Spock's vulnerable form.

All Jim could do was blink in confusion, baffled by the false claim. "Ny'ame has got it wrong, I have no bond with Spock. So that means you can let us leave now." Jim pronounced each word slowly to emphasise his point, and hopefully get Ki'en to understand.

"No." Ki'en shook his head in denial. "Ny'ame is the best telepath in our tribe, he would make no mistake." He strode towards the door, briefly turning to face Jim. "I will make you aware of this bond, as I smell no lies on your tongue."

With that, Ki'en forced open the solid metal door and left the room. The door was then locked with a snap, yet another thing that lowered Jim's chance of escape. If only he had used a keypad lock, then Jim would be able to decipher which buttons were pressed. He'd have to wish for a miracle.

The Nashgi species were more dangerous than Jim originally thought, he had stupidly

underestimated them. They had superior strength, could 'smell lies', and some, if not all, members of their race were telepathic. Jim would have to wait for Spock to awaken before he planned for an escape. He needed the sharp intellectual input of his First Officer.

Rest was also needed; as Spock was already unconscious, Jim saw no need to stay awake. They needed to have maximum strength if they wanted to have any chance of leaving successfully. Jim also knew that he had no way of protecting Spock currently, so staying up to take guard duty would be pointless.

He shifted down onto his side and curled up - a subconscious defensive action to help protect his head and chest while he was at his most vulnerable. Jim didn't find sleep easily, but eventually managed to calm his mind and drift into a light state of unconsciousness.

* * *

Jim's brow furrowed slightly as he slowly stirred into a lucid state of awareness. He hazily hoped that he'd be in the Medical Bay, back aboard the Enterprise. He'd even happily face a grumpy Bones, who would reprimand him about getting into yet another life-threatening situation and aging him another ten years. Jim couldn't say that he'd take the hypos without complaining, as those things hurt like a bitch!

If he had to choose between being Ki'en's captive and the victim of a nasty hypo… Well, let's just say he'd be thinking about escaping the dungeon. Pleased that he had sorted out his priorities, Jim opened his eyes and came to terms with reality.

He was still restrained in chains to the wall, yet he was currently uninjured; so there were some positives. Jim had learned that in these seemly hopeless situations, he had to focus on the minuet good things, it was the only way to make it through it. Another extremely positive thing was the fact that Spock was now conscious and also uninjured.

He was sitting in his usual stiff posture, shoulders straight and hands clasped behind his back. If Jim didn't see the heavy black chains, then he'd have no idea that anything was wrong. That was the thing about Vulcan's, they were excellent at hiding their emotions behind a stoic mask of indifference that could fool the cleverest of men.

A quick glance around the room showed Jim that Ki'en, was fortunately nowhere to be found. Just thinking of the Nashgi caused him to groan in annoyance, now he'd have to prepare himself to have a conversation with Spock that he couldn't imagine getting through without cringing at least four times. How could he explain to his friend that a crazed alien thought that they were bonded? It was ridiculous to say the least.

At the sound of his distress, Spock's eyes flashed to him. "Captain, what is your status?" His voice was monotone, the only hint of concern gleamed in his dark eyes.

Jim returned his gaze with a sigh, "I am fine Spock, merely annoyed."

His First Office nodded once, seeming pleased with Jim's answer. Though it didn't stop Spock's eyes from briefly examining his form, for any possible injuries. His eyes lingered on the shallow cut on Jim's cheek, but it was nothing serious. Spock knew that this action was unnecessary, but he couldn't seem to push down the urge as they were in a foreign and dangerous environment. After all, the Captain had lied about his injuries in the past. It was only logical to ensure that Jim was being truthful. At least, that's what Spock told himself.

Jim quickly dismissed his friend's gaze, he was used to Spock's attitude by now. The hidden concern often touched Jim, even though it was unnecessary. Jim sighed, before asking. "Were you awake when Ki'en was here?"

Spock's eyes briefly narrowed at the casual use of their captives' name, before his face smoothed out once again. His control had slipped, this stressful situation had made it so that his emotions were closer to the surface. As soon as it was safe, Spock knew that he'd have to meditate in order to remain in control. For Jim's sake, he couldn't risk anything happening.

"Yes, I have been acquainted with the leader of the Nashgi tribe." Spock answered, then he glanced over to Jim. "Do you have any orders for our current situation Captain?"

Jim shook his head, "Jesus, Spock! We're being held captive by a crazy alien, the least you can do is call me Jim!" He chuckled in exasperation, but then quickly sobered and leant back against the wall.

Spock's brow furrowed, "It would be unwise to do so Captain. We are currently on a mission and Starfleet Protocol 23D states that: 'A Captain must be treated with respect by all…'" Spock ceased speaking after Jim lifted up his hand in a 'stop' gesture.

Jim sighed heavily as he leant forward and dropped his head into the palms of his hands, his fingers pressed lightly onto his forehead in an attempt to alleviate his headache. After he realised that his attempts weren't going to succeed Jim lifted up his head, and tried to ignore the sharp pain.

Spock stayed silent as he observed his Captain, he stubbornly pushed down the concern that threatened to reach the surface. Jim wasn't injured, so Spock had no reason to behave in such an illogical manner. Even though he was aware of this, it didn't stop the emotions from trying to overwhelm him.

"We have more important things to talk about than if you'll stop using my title." Jim murmured, he couldn't work up the energy to continue his light-hearted mask of nonchalance.

Spock nodded gravely, he was aware of the seriousness of the situation at hand. They were currently being held captive and they had to come up with a plan to escape, quickly.

Jim watched as Spock stared down intensely at the heavy chains around his wrists. He started to slowly move forward, until the chains were held taut behind his pale arms. Jim felt the first ounce of hope trace his thoughts, maybe Spock could break the chains! It was possible, seeing as he had three times the strength of a human.

However, slowly Jim's hope started to fade, as Spock didn't seem to be making any progress. His brows were drawn together in vivid concentration, as he lurched forward again and again. Jim gave a sigh of disappointment as he saw that the bolts were still holding the chains firmly in place. Even though Spock was aware of this, he hadn't stopped trying.

"That's enough Spock." Automatically Spock froze as he heard his Captain's voice, the command was loud and clear. However, it didn't stop the Vulcan from opening his mouth to protest. "No Spock, I won't have you injuring yourself for no reason."

Jim's voice was full of authority, though a trace of concern seeped through. This concern caused Spock to glance over to his friend, however Jim wasn't making eye contact. Instead his eyes were trained to Spock's wrists, his brows furrowed and lips pursed. Spock followed his Captain's gaze and looked down at his hands, his wrists were rubbed raw, a painful green rash coated his pale skin.

Spock lightly exhaled - the closest noise to an exasperated sigh that a Vulcan would make - Jim acknowledged this fact and knew that he was being overprotective. It was one of his faults, he felt overly responsible for the safety of his crew members. Though this situation was different, more personal. It wasn't just an unnamable, unknown crewmember, this was Spock. Jim knew that his worry was unnecessary but it was difficult to push down, he honestly really cared for Spock.

With a heavy heart Jim slowly shook his head, they were getting off of topic. Neither of them could afford to become distracted from the situation at hand. "Spock," Jim began, his voice was hesitant. "Are you aware of the reason why Ki'en kidnapped us?"

Spock tilted his head slightly at the sudden change in conversation, but dutifully answered his Captain. "He failed to mention the reason Captain, he stated that it was 'irrelevant' and purposely ignored all of my attempts to speak about the subject."

Jim nodded, he had expected as much. "Right, I'd best inform you then!" His voice rung with a cheerful note that he certainly didn't feel. "Ki'en was under the impression that we have a T'hy'la bond?"

Jim watched cautiously as Spock froze, his eyes widened and he gasped sharply. "Jim, are you certain of this?" Spock's voice was hoarse as his eyes darted around the room, his shoulders were hunched as if he were prepared to fight an unknown threat.

* * *

 **How do you think that Spock will react?**


End file.
